relentless.

Lately I've been studying quite a bit in Genesis.  I had some preconceived notions about what studying Genesis would produce, and let me just say, I was wrong.  I've learned so much more than I had anticipated, and the great news is, I'm only in Genesis 5!  That means there's still so much more to gain!  I'm SO excited.  (In case you couldn't tell.)  :)

Anyway, what I want to share with you today is something that the Lord laid on my heart even today during lunch.  A friend and I ate lunch outside today and chatted away while the sun did its job of radiating warmth and delight into our lives for a mere hour.  Our chat started out lighthearted, but quickly progressed to a more challenging time of deliberation and wrestling.  In our wrestling (not physically, only metaphorically; no worries!) through ideas and theologies, I began to piece together ideas and themes from Genesis and this really beautiful truth emerged so clearly to me.  Are you ready for this?

Here it is:
God is relentless in His pursuit of His people.

Do you know what that means?  Do you know how that affects you?  I'm not sure that I can even grasp it completely.  But, if you will allow me, I will explain what I've learned about this topic in the following tidbit of type.

Ahhhhemmm...

In Genesis chapter 1, God creates everything.  Light. Dark.  Night.  Day.  Water.  Earth.  Sky.  Stars. Sun.  Moon.  Seed.  Plants.  Animals.  And finally, human.  The real kicker is that He creates all of this, all of these physical, tangible substances from nothing that we can understand.  Crazy huh?  (Check out Hebrews 11:3-6 for more on this.)  He gives simple life guidelines to human:  Don't eat from the tree in the middle of the garden or else they would die.  Well, we all know the story, right?  They eat.  And then they have to face the consequences.

This is what's so astounding to me though: they disobey God, blatantly, yet He doesn't condemn them; He asks them questions.  He pursues them...even after they've offended Him.  Beyond that, Adam and Eve make coverings for themselves to cover their sin, which turn out to be displeasing to the Lord.  But rather than strike them dead immediately for their severance of His commands, the Lord graciously provides a covering for them, one that He deems worthy and pleasing.  He provides atonement for them. Yes, they still suffer consequences.  They don't get to live in Eden, they experience pain and toil in labor,  and they do experience death in the end.  But, God shows mercy to them.  He still desires relationship with them.

Then in Genesis 4, when Cain and Abel present their offerings to the Lord, and Cain's is found unfavorable, the Lord goes so far as to offer Cain another chance.  Cain doesn't approach the Lord the way that He had established, so his offering doesn't cut it.  But rather than punish Cain immediately, God  again asks a question (a relational gesture), and offers an opportunity for Cain to correct his deed.  God pursues Cain, even when Cain's heart is jealous and caught up in his own affairs.  The Lord still desires to be reconciled to him.


Ok, so I know that's a lot of Bible stuff, and maybe I lost you, but don't miss this.  Here's the point in all my rambling:

God establishes the way that we must approach Him.  He gives guidelines that we are to follow and He doesn't work outside of Himself.  He never contradicts Himself, nor does He go back on His word.  But so often we get caught up in either the worry of legalism or in creating our own way to God that we miss His way.  And we miss the point altogether.  God wants us to approach Him.  HE WANTS US.  And He pursues His people relentlessly.   I just think that's overwhelming.  And I wanted to share it with you.

Relentless:  "Showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace (merriam-webster.com)."

What are you pursuing relentlessly?  Do you follow and live in the relentless love of your Savior?  
May His relentless love be a tangible reality in your life today.